Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015) * 1/2

Directed by:  Andy Fickman

Starring:  Kevin James, Neal McDonough, Raini Rodriguez, Daniela Alonso

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is entirely unnecessary.     The filmmakers should have quit while they were ahead.     The original Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) was appealing and sweet with a likable hero we rooted for.    None of those things apply to part two.     The sequel moves the action to Las Vegas and makes the tragic error of turning the likable Blart into a jerk.    The cocky kind that forgot his humble beginnings.    Part 2 went against everything that made the first film work.     There is nothing in it that is original or funny.    

Kevin James reprises his role as Blart, the North Jersey mall security guard who has endured some personal setbacks since the last film.     His girlfriend leaves him, his mom is run over by a truck (don't ask how this is funny), and his daughter will soon be going away to college (although she has yet to share that information with her father).     Paul flies to Vegas to attend a security guard's convention.    In a painful scene, he arrives at the front desk expecting lavish treatment and getting quite the opposite.     The nice hotel manager (Alonso) takes a liking to him, although it is difficult to see why.    He comes of as an obnoxious jerk for reasons still unknown.     Maybe his mom's untimely death has something to do with it.     Shirley Knight reprises her role (albeit very briefly) in this film.    My guess is she wanted out as quickly as humanly possible.  

Meanwhile, a slick criminal named Vincent (McDonough) is masterminding a heist that Blart is unwittingly snared into trying to stop.    My advice to those attempting Vegas heists:  Don't try it if you're name isn't Danny Ocean.    He even finds a way to ride around on a Segway again, which is the cornerstone for Paul Blart humor.    Why is Blart riding around on this thing funny anyway?    McDonough has played a slick villain so often I'm surprised his picture isn't hanging in post offices across the country.     He should branch out, but I guess you go where the roles are.

What we have is a remake of the first film with a more unlikable Blart.    His scenes in which overprotects his daughter paints him as an insecure creep more than a concerned dad.     His relationship with Maya (Rodriguez) worked in the original film.     She was always in his corner and it was touching.     Is this how dad repays her kindness?

Paul Blart 2's biggest flaw is that it didn't need to be made.    It took six years for a sequel to be released.     Maybe the filmmakers should have waited a lot longer or not bothered.    Paul Blart 2 smells like, walks like, and talks like what it is:    A cash-in on the popularity of the first film, which I'm sure surprised even the most optimistic of studio executives.